Anchors in the Drift
When I hear “5th Cell,” my mind goes to the good times I spent with 2008’s action-tower defenseLock’s Questor 2009’s creative puzzle platformerScribblenauts. Those were cute, inventive 2D games. I definitely don’t think ofHybrid, whose 3D cover-based shooting I had forgotten about entirely until seeing this new project. 5th Cell is continuing inHybrid‘s tradition of making run-of-the-mill looking games with one neat twist. Today, the developer announced its free-to-play action-RPGAnchors in the Drift.
At first glance,Anchors in the Driftlooks like a standardDiablo-like, with its isometric viewpoint and and its magical abilities. The key that 5th Cell is hoping will differentiateAnchorsis the ability crafting mechanic, which borrows a creative aspect from the studio’s earlier titles. Abilities are made up of different cards, which can be assembled in any order, customizing them to fit the player’s needs.
Anchors in the Driftis the second project to come to thevideo game-focused crowdfunding/investment platform Fig. The first wasOuter Wilds, which just barely made its $125,000 base goal.
Real talk for a second here: this is weird, right? Crowdfunding a free-to-play game? Not even considering that the core gameplay looks just average, I can’t imagine this making its goal. It’s up on a little-known crowdfunding site, it’s asking for half a million bucks, and it’s going to be free when it comes out anyway. Who’s going to be putting money into this, let alone the hundreds of dollars necessary to bypass the free-to-play mechanics? Just the investors?
